How to keep data safe in your overseas office

When you’re a thousand miles away, it’s hard to have visibility and keep data safe in your overseas office. Trying to keep data safe is a major challenge, but there things you can do to make it easier. Here we outline the four most crucial steps you need to take to keep data safe in an overseas office.

1. Train your staff

You can build as many walls around your data as you like, but if you don’t keep a close eye on the people you invite in behind them, then it’s all for nothing.

Privilege abuse and general misuse of company data are key threats, but your employees are also the top targets for phishing scams. Frightening when you consider that just under 10 percent of the total reported incidents of phishing scams led to a confirmed data disclosure.

Train your staff to stay vigilant against the growing number of sophisticated scams.

2. Get secure

Make sure you secure your overseas network and all devices that the staff use with:

Firewalls to prevent unauthorised access to company networks

Antivirus to protect against online and offline threats

Encryption to obscure your data in transit

Email security to flag up phishing scams and spam

Device control which allows you to set rules and parameters for devices

Remote management from one central management tool, so you can keep tabs on what’s happening to your data

3. Backup

If you’re not already performing regular backups then you missed data security 101. Your data, whether it’s stored on your own servers, local servers with your overseas office or hosted in the cloud, should always have backups.

Top tip: keep your backup off-site, preferably in a secure cloud, so it won’t fall victim to the same risks (theft, fire, flood etc) as your core servers.

4. Spread the load

Keeping your data safe overseas is a constant effort. Managing that and keeping the lights on in your own office is tough, which is why many companies choose a managed services provider to bear some of the weight.

The challenges of an overseas office

As the lynchpin that your company relies on to stay in business, it's vital to keep data safe. Beyond what we’ve mentioned here, there are other steps you can take to make sure that your overseas office is set up and managed efficiently and securely. Find out more by downloading our free guide to opening your first overseas office.